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2/07/2018

NIGERIA AND THE BOOKSTORE DEBATE

Few days back, a French
journalist stoked award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, with the ‘book
store’ question, thus sparking off disparate opinions across the globe. The query was meant to poke and ridicule
Adichie. And it did. But it did much more than that.

It further blighted the country’s
already battered image and demeaned its status, as the ‘giant of Africa’ and
most populous black nation. Adichie’s response
was vitriolic and scathing: ‘I think it reflects very poorly on French people
that you have to ask me that question. My books are read in Nigeria. They are
studied in schools. Not just Nigeria, across the continent in Africa.’

Adichie followed up with a
Facebook post: ‘Bookshops are in decline all over the world. And that is worth
discussing and mourning and hopefully changing. But the question ‘are there
bookshops in Nigeria’ was not about that. It was about giving legitimacy to a
deliberate, entitled, tiresome, sweeping, base ignorance about Africa. And I do
not have the patience for that. Perhaps French people cannot indeed conceive of
Nigeria as a place that might have bookshops. And this, in 2018, in our age of
interconnectedness and the internet, is a shame.’

The altercation sent the social
media riling, as respondents reacted with acerbic posts about the motive of the
questioner. The journalist’s real intent to embarrass the country and its 190
million people was obviously due to vestiges of racism, colonial
mentality, and bigoted media negativism among others. Despite the furore over the inquisition,
there are some introspections for the country and its crop of leaders. Fundamentally, the interview underscores the
rot in the nation’s educational system.
It also validates the widespread agitation and demand to revamp the sector through improved
budgetary allocations and articulation of effective policies for
technological advancements and societal progress.

Doing this will change the
narrative on whether Nigeria owns bookstores or not. Many Asian countries experienced inglorious
histories of colonialism and political
upheavals, as Nigeria, but they have
become major players in science, technology, health and agriculture.

Today, India is a lead
destination for medical tourism and Information Technology, while Malaysia is a
top exporter of oil, both palm and petroleum. Japan, Taiwan, China and South
Korea are all industrial and manufacturing
giants. These Asian countries
achieved monumental feats, through
strong leadership and huge investments in
science education and technological research.

This is in sharp contrast with
Nigeria, where basic school enrolment and completion figures remain low, even as higher education
is equally appalling on several fronts, including examination malpractice,
sexual abuse, poor facilities, wage
crises and frequent strikes.

Budget allocation to education is
paltry and far below global standards. Only 7.04 percent of the N8.6 trillion,
2018 budget was assigned to education,
which is lower than last year’s allocation of 7.4 percent, and a far cry from
the 26 percentage of national budgets for education, stipulated by United
Nations (UN). The funding gap in the sector is often ascribed to corruption,
low oil price, war on Boko Haram, which
means ‘No to western education’, phony projects, among other frivolous excuses.

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This malaise has cumulatively escalated
unemployment, drug abuse, youth restiveness, crimes, terrorism, and
insecurity across the country. Government’s lackadaisical attitude to education
and youth development, is a reflection of systemic collapse and leadership
failure that have collectively mortgaged
the lives of citizens and the future of the next generation.

This nation has for several
decades been bedevilled by unimpressive sit-tight military dictators, as well
as corrupt political leaders, who have
consistently exhibited stark ignorance of true statesmanship and statecraft, thus leaving
a beleaguered and pauperized citizenry floundering in spiralling poverty, illiteracy and depravity. Even the current political class is viewed
mainly as a bunch of characters, bereft
of altruistic qualities and
technological skills to deliver the
country from its myriad woes.

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Clearly, decades of sleaze in
governance and public office, as well as nepotism, rather than merit, have
contributed in no small measure to the country’s horrid position in global
standing and developmental markers, as inelegantly displayed in the educational spectrum.

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Several research findings
indicate widespread decadence in educational standards across the country, with the North East, North West and North
Central as the worst hit. Available
statistics from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) show that Nigeria still
has 10.5 million out-of-school children – the world’s highest number. Sixty per
cent of those children are in northern Nigeria. UNICEF Country Representative,
Mr Mohammed Fall, has severally warned about the security and social impact of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

‘Such numbers pose a lot of
danger to the growth and development of the country,’ he added. Senate
president, Bukola Saraki, said it was an alarming phenomenon and ‘a ticking
time bomb, promising that National Assembly would tackle it through appropriate
legislations on child rights.’

Sadly, many of these promises are
never redeemed, even as analysts also
attribute the poor performance in the sector
to socio-cultural predispositions for almajiri system, forced marriage, polygamy, poverty and
religious extremism. Some religious and
political leaders from these affected areas
still clamour for such infantile
and crooked marriages, which exacerbate
population explosion, unemployment and
infrastructural dilapidation. It is
sheer criminality and breach of public
ethos for those entrusted with leadership to renege on their responsibilities
to invest massively in education and
other viable sectors, but fritter away the common patrimony on hedonistic lifestyles and insatiable
luxuries.

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Perhaps, this explains why the
Federal Government’s proposal to declare a state of emergency in the education
sector has been trailed with more knocks than nods. While some experts have
hailed the idea, others dismissed it as a farce, due to alleged apathetic and
jaundiced temperament of the administration. Moreso, are there effective
mechanisms to ensure its success and sustainability, given the country’s
political exigencies and vagaries as well as poor budgetary allocations to the
sector, in dire need for holistic reforms?

However, Minister of Education,
Adamu Adamu, was hopeful over the plan, if embraced and supported by governors and stakeholders. “By the end of April, we are proposing there
will be a declaration of state of emergency in the education sector all over
the country. I will also meet with the
governors to appeal to them to give special emphasis to address the problem of
low standard of education, especially at primary level,” he said.

Without doubt, the plan and its
grandiose projections are achievable, if many players in the corridors of power
will change their kleptomaniac tendencies and stop putting their hands in the
public till.

As it is, Nigeria is grossly unprepared to meet global benchmarks in education, science and technology, the
tripod and template for sustainable growth.
The country’s lofty dreams for holistic development may remain a
phantasy, unless the educational system
is rescued from its present doldrums.
Adichie’s parting shot, is pedagogic. ‘All human beings really deserve
equal dignity.’

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